Saturday, 26 February 2011

The cancellation of the two-day 'Trucks n' Tracks' show for 2011 due to poor attendance and takings in 2010 caused such a kerfuffle that a 'new' one-day 'On track' show was put in place for the Saturday only at the Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone, Kent. The hall was relatively crowded first thing, but had thinned out considerably by mid-afternoon. The usual traders were in attendance - John at Pol Models was good enough to give me a discount on some Part etch and Trumpeter goodies and I picked up a Revell Ju 88 A-4 (48th scale) for a tenner. A few of the models on display, including the FAMO which was the only 'Gold' on the competition table;

Thursday, 24 February 2011

After looking at the Hasegawa G-6 over on my Luftwaffe blog I thought I'd build the Zvezda Junkers Ju 88 G-6 first. Great looking kit, for around half the cost of the Hasegawa model. One or two issues apparent straight out of the box, and while I am no rivet-counter I will be replacing the tail fin with the Quickboost resin replacement and something will have to be done with the Jumo charger intakes which are very poor representations in the kit - perhaps copied from the equally poor Hasegawa intakes.
Edit: a note from AIMS' John McIllmurray who was in touch about this kit and commented ;

"...the tail is wrong, the wings too thin (the side fuselage ducts are not needed on the G-6 ) and the engines are completely wrong and the nacelles immediately behind them too short! My engines not only have the right detail but include the missing cowling length so you can add them straight onto the kits cowling and blend in. Basically as with AMT before, Zvezda have done a compromise kit that can also become an A-4 but the Jumo 211 J and Jumo 213 are just too different both in power egg and rear cowling to allow this. If you already have the Quickboost fin/rudder all you need from me are the engines which are £7.00 plus postage..."

Above; Probably one of the most famous Tempest photos ever taken! The date is 27 August 1945, Pierre Clostermann's last day in the RAF, and he is seen here on his new JF-E NV 724 (note no 'Le Grand Charles' inscription). Photo reproduced here with the kind permission of 'Avions' magazine. See issue No. 151 of 'Avions' for the best and most authoritative recent account of Clostermann's RAF career.

Hawker Tempest Mk V (Academy)

From Rudel to Clostermann. The two were good friends post-war and there is a nice picture of Clostermann with Rudel's very glamourous blonde wife in Avions no. 151, the commemorative issue devoted to Clostermann's life. Clostermann flew at least four Tempests - only one of them, SN222, carried the inscription 'Le Grand Charles' despite what you can read almost anywhere on the internet. There are quite a few reviews of this nice Academy kit on the internet, probably the definitive injection moulded Tempest V. Supercedes the old Matchbox and Heller kits easily and has a good level of detail, including interior. Also includes bombs and drop tanks, but I'm not sure Tempests carried bombs. According to some reviewers the fuselage is too short by 2mm, just forward of the tailplane as compared to drawings while the wing chord is too broad at the level of the ailerons. The kit markings are for Clostermann's JF-E NV724 in July 1945 as seen in the photo above. It is thus a postwar machine with "parade" markings. For a wartime version wearing similar markings, use NV994, minus the kill markings, the "Grand Charles" inscription, rudder crest and cross of Lorraine. The spinner is black and the upper wing roundels should have the yellow outline (as seen on a period photo). Closterman shot down 2 FW-190 D9's April 20 1945 with this aircraft. See my Luftwaffe blog here

Note the black Tempest cockpit - I'd originally sprayed this black to provide some colour 'modulation' for the typical grey-green, until I actually bothered to hunt out some Tempest cockpit photos and realised the cockpit was mostly black itself. Added a grey wash so that at least some of it might be visible..

Monday, 14 February 2011

My recently completed Ju 87 G-2 with Bk 37 cannon 'Kanonenvogel' from the Academy 1/72 kit in the markings of Hans Ulrich Rudel. I've posted some useful reference video stills of a 'cannon bird' and some further views of my model photographed on the Holger Nauroth's German-language Stukageschwader 2 Immelmann history, which is a very nicely done photo history of this unit on my Luftwaffe blog here. The kit does not feature the white outline Hakenkreuz and I was unable to source a similar marking from my decal sheets - no great loss; I'm not a 'fan' of Rudel or the HK..

The kit was relatively straight forward and reasonably detailed. Perhaps the finish looks a little too pristine for an Eastern Front Stuka, although I have tried to weather it by rubbing some yellow oil paint into the greens, a tip I read about in a recent Osprey 'Painting and Finishing Techniques' book. As it was the CO's aircraft it might have been kept reasonably clean. Some exhaust staining with acrylic varnish suitably 'coloured'. Cannon barrels were finished in pencil graphite for a neat sheen. The Academy decals were a nightmare as usual - my patent mix of white glue and Klear (Future) seems to have kept them on for the moment. The spinner spiral creased horribly but doesn't really notice in these shots. 8/10 for the kit, 2/10 for the decals..

By way of comparison some views of an earlier Italeri Ju 87 D-5 probably of StG 3 and fitted with the MG 151 cannon in the wings and still featuring airbrakes. Weathering with oils.

Also added to the shelves this weekend was my Italeri Bf 110 (1/72) in the markings of Wolfgang Falck, founder of the Nachtjagd - this model was displayed briefly back in February last year but has now been varnished and had an aerial wire added from sprue. Owl decals - as usual with Owl not free of error - the Stab letter 'G' should probably be in green but is supplied in red.

First really tricky part of this kit - fitting the flaps. This is a dry fit - I use the term 'fit' loosely .... I read that parts 10 & 11 C needed a bit of fettling, but no-one has mentioned that you risk losing them inside the tail booms! The flaps themselves clip into the parts that in turn sit inside the booms and which don't fit too brilliantly as you can see here - or at least I think that is what is required. I'm also assuming that they are not meant to fit flush with the booms since the 'flap' sits over the top of them when not extended..? Hopefully some kind soul on britmodeller might come up with some advice here.

..or not. On reflection I'm sure 10/11C are meant to fit flush with the booms with flaps deployed - two hours cutting, scraping, filing and sanding later I'm in a position to put a touch of filler around these parts..the walkaround on the 'Thunder and Lightnings' web site was very helpful here